Abstract
Our severe environmental and social issues challenge us to think in new and innovative ways about the needed solutions. In this chapter, I argue we need to move beyond mere instrumental, linear, and reductionist approaches, toward more transformative, emergent, and aspirational approaches. Considering the nature of our global sustainability problems – often characterized as profoundly systemic, highly complex, and ultimately human-created – I use insights from three distinct academic fields in order to articulate a number of principles for effective sustainability strategies. Sustainability science urges us to engage with the intent or purpose of the system, thus shifting worldviews, mindsets, and paradigms, or inviting reflection on them. From such a systems perspective “multi-problem-solvers” are preferred. Complexity science recommends drawing in collaboration with diverse stakeholders and viewpoints, so strategies are co-created and co-owned, as well as allowing ‘emergence’ through inviting experimentation and self-organization. Positive psychology proposes supporting people to strengthen intrinsic goals and values; behave in autonomous, volitional, or consensual ways; and be mindful. This perspective also emphasizes the importance of cultivating a positive, empowering sustainability narrative, which challenges the empirically faulty - yet highly persistent - idea that hedonism leads to happiness, and which demonstrates alternative, eudaimonic routes to well-being that are both fulfilling and sustainable. I then discuss a dietary change toward more plant-based diets as an example of such a transformative solution pathway. Arguing that highly potent pathways are often overlooked in the sustainability debate, I invite reflection on the nature and characteristics of the solutions we need, and the sustainable world we collectively envision.
What sustainability science, complexity science, and positive psychology teach us about designing effective strategies for addressing our planetary challenges
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abson, D. J., Fischer, J., Leventon, J., Newig, J., Schomerus, T., Vilsmaier, U., … Lang, D. J. (2016). Leverage points for sustainability transformation. Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment, 46, 30–39.
Brown, K. W., & Kasser, T. (2005). Are psychological and ecological well-being compatible? The role of values, mindfulness, and lifestyle. Social Indicators Research, 74, 349–368.
Campbell, C. (2007). The easternization of the west. A thematic account of cultural change in the modern era. Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.
Corral Verdugo, V. (2012). The positive psychology of sustainability. Environment, Development and Sustainability, 14, 651.
Corral Verdugo, V., Mireles-Acosta, J., Tapia-Fonllem, C., & Fraijo-Sing, B. (2011). Happiness as correlate of sustainable behavior: A study of pro-ecological, frugal, equitable and altruistic actions that promote subjective wellbeing. Research in Human Ecology, 18(2), 95–104.
De Boer, J., De Witt, A., & Aiking, H. (2016). Help the climate, change your diet: A cross-sectional study on how to involve consumers in a transition to a low-carbon society. Appetite, 98, 19–27.
De Vries, B. J. M. (2013). Sustainability science. New York: Cambridge University Press.
De Witt, A. (2015). Climate change and the clash of worldviews. An exploration of how to move forward in a polarized debate. Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science, 50(4), 906–921.
De Witt, A., De Boer, J., Hedlund, N., & Osseweijer, P. (2016). A new tool to map the major worldviews in the Netherlands and USA, and explore how they relate to climate change. Environmental Science and Policy, 63, 101–112.
Ehrenfeld, J. R. (2004). Searching for sustainability: No quick fix. The SoL Journal on Knowledge, Learning, and Change, 5(8), 1–13.
Eisnitz, G. (1997). Slaughterhouse: The shocking story of greed, neglect, and inhumane treatment inside the U.S. meat industry. New York: Prometheus Books.
Ericson, T., Kjønstad, B. G., & Barstad, A. (2014). Mindfulness and sustainability. Ecological Economics, 104, 73–79.
FAO. (2006). Livestock’s long shadow. Environmental issues and options. Rome: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Ferguson, R. S., & Lovell, S. T. (2015). Grassroots engagement with transition to sustainability: Diversity and modes of participation in the international permaculture movement. Ecology and Society, 20(4), 39.
Foley, J. A., Ramankutty, Navin, Brauman, Kate, A., Cassidy, Emily, S., Gerber, James, S., Johnston, Matt, … Zaks, David, P. M. (2011). Solutions for a cultivated planet. Nature, 478, 337–342.
Goldstein, J. (1999). Emergence as a construct: History and issues. Emergence, 1(1), 49–72.
Green, K., & Keltner, D. (2017). What happens when we reconnect with nature. Research is discovering all the different ways that nature benefits our well-being, health, and relationships. Greater Good Magazine.
Grint, K. (2010). Wicked problems and clumsy solutions: The role of leadership. In S. Brooks & K. Grint (Eds.), The new public leadership challenge. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Grouzet, F. M. E., Ahuvia, A., Kim, Y., Ryan, R. M., Schmuck, P., Kasser, T., … Sheldon, K. M. (2005). The structure of goal contents across 15 cultures. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 89(5), 800–816.
Harvey, F. (2016). Eat less meat to avoid dangerous global warming, scientists say. The Guardian.
Hassan, Z. (2014). The social labs revolution. A new approach to solving our most complex challenges. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
Hedlund-de Witt, A. (2013a). Pathways to environmental responsibility: A qualitative exploration of the spiritual dimension of nature experience. Journal for the Study of Religion, Nature and Culture, 7(2), 154–186.
Hedlund-de Witt, A. (2013b). Worldviews and their significance for the global sustainable development debate. Environmental Ethics, 35(2), 133–162.
Hedlund-de Witt, A. (2014). Rethinking sustainable development: Considering how different worldviews envision “development” and “quality of life”. Sustainability, 6(11), 8310–8328.
Hedlund-de Witt, A., De Boer, J., & Boersema, J. J. (2014). Exploring inner and outer worlds: A quantitative study of worldviews, environmental attitudes, and sustainable lifestyles. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 37, 40–54.
Heifetz, R. A., Grashow, A., & Linsky, M. (2009). The practice of adaptive leadership: Tools and tactics for changing your organization and the world. Boston: Harvard Business Press.
Hemenway, T. (2009). Gaia’s garden. A guide to home-scale permaculture. White River Junction: Chelsea Green Publishing.
Hulme, M. (2009). Why we disagree about climate change: Understanding controversy, inaction and opportunity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Irfan, U. (2012). Global shift to obesity packs serious climate consequences. Scientific American. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-shift-obesity-packs-serious-climate-consequences
Jacob, J., Jovic, E., & Brinkerhoff, M. B. (2009). Personal and planetary well-being: Mindfulness meditation, pro-environmental behavior and personal quality of life in a survey from the social justice and ecological sustainability movement. Social Indicators Research, 93, 275–294.
Kates, R. W., Clark, W. C., Corell, R., Hall, J. M., Jaeger, C. C., Lowe, I., … Svedin, U. (2001). Sustainability science. Science, 292(5517), 641–642.
Kaufmann, J. (2009). Advancing sustainability science: Report on the international conference on sustainability science. Sustainability Science, 4(2), 233.
Keast, R. L., Mandell, M. P., Brown, K. A., & Woolcock, G. (2004). Network structures: Working differently and changing expectations. Public Administration Review, 64(3), 363–371.
Kurtz, C. F., & Snowden, D. J. (2003). The new dynamics of strategy: Sense-making in a complex and complicated world. IBM Systems Journal, 42(3), 462–483.
Levidow, L., Birch, K., & Papaioannou, T. (2012). Divergent paradigms of European agro-food innovation: The knowledge-based bio-economy (KBBE) as an R&D agenda. Science, Technology & Human Values, 38, 94–125.
Lim, S. S. (2012). A comparative risk assessment of burden of disease and injury attributable to 67 risk factors and risk factor clusters in 21 regions, 1990–2010: A systematic analysis for the global burden of disease study 2010. The Lancet, 380(9859), 2224–2260.
Meadows, D. (1999). Leverage points: Places to intervene in a system. Hartland: Sustainability Institute.
Morin, E., & Kern, A. B. (1999). Homeland earth: A manifesto for the new millennium (S. M. Kelly & R. Lapointe, Trans.). Cresskill: Hampton Press.
O’Brien, K. L. (2010). Responding to climate change: The need for an integral approach. In S. Esbjörn-Hargens (Ed.), Integral theory in action. Applied, theoretical and constructive perspectives on the aqal model (pp. 65–78). Albany: State University of New York Press.
Pluhar, E. B. (2010). Meat and morality: Alternatives to factory farming. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 23, 455–468.
Popp, A., Lotze-Campen, H., & Bodirsky, B. (2011). Food consumption, diet shifts and associated non-CO2 greenhouse gases from agricultural production. Global Environmental Change, 20, 451–462.
Ryan, R. M. (1995). Psychological needs and the facilitation of integrative processes. Journal of Personality, 63(3), 397–427.
Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development and well-being. American Psychologist, 55, 68–78.
Ryan, R. M., Huta, V., & Deci, E. L. (2008). Living well: A self-determination theory perspective on eudaimonia. Journal of Happiness Studies, 9, 139–170.
Sarewitz, D. (2004). How science makes environmental controversies worse. Environmental Science & Policy, 7, 385–403.
Schösler, H. (2012). Pleasure and purity. An exploration of the cultural potential to shift towards more sustainable food consumption patterns in the Netherlands. Ph.D., VU University, Amsterdam.
Schösler, H., & Hedlund-de Witt, A. (2012). Sustainable protein consumption and cultural innovation. What businesses, organizations, and governments can learn from sustainable food trends in Europe and the United States. Amsterdam: Reprografie.
Schösler, H., De Boer, J., & Boersema, J. J. (2012). A theoretical framework to analyse sustainability relevant food choices from a cultural perspective: Caring for food and sustainability in a pluralistic society. In T. Potthast & S. Meisch (Eds.), Climate change and sustainable development: Ethical perspectives on land use and food production (pp. 335–341). Wageningen: Wageningen Academic Publishers.
Schösler, H., De Boer, J., & Boersema, J. J. (2013). The organic food philosophy: A qualitative exploration of the practices, values, and beliefs of Dutch organic consumers within a cultural-historical frame. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics, 26(2), 439–460.
Schuur, E. A. G., McGuire, A. D., Schädel, C., Grosse, G., Harden, J. W., Hayes, D. J., … Vonk, J. E. (2015). Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback. Nature, 520, 171–179.
Seligman, M. E. P., & Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2000). Positive psychology. An introduction. American Psychologist, 55(1), 5–14.
Snowden, D. J., & Boone, M. E. (2007). A leader’s framework for decision making. Harvard Business Review, 85, 68.
Sorin, D. (2010). Sustainability, self-identity and the sociology of consumption. Sustainable Development, 18, 172–181.
Spangenberg, J. H. (2011). Sustainability science: A review, an analysis and some empirical lessons. Environmental Conservation, 38(3), 275–287.
Springmann, M., Charles, H., Godfray, J., Rayner, M., & Scarborough, P. (2016). Analysis and valuation of the health and climate change cobenefits of dietary change. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 113(15), 4146–4151.
Stehfest, E., Bouwman, L., Vuuren, V., Detlef, P., Elzen, D., Michel, G. J., Eickhout, B., & Kabat, P. (2009). Climate benefits of changing diet. Climatic Change, 95(1–2), 83–102.
Van Beurden, E. K., Kia, A. M., Zask, A., Dietrich, U., & Rose, L. (2011). Making sense in a complex landscape: How the Cynefin framework from complex adaptive systems theory can inform health promotion practice. Health Promotion International, 28(1), 73–83.
Verdonk, D. (2009). Het dierloze gerecht. Een vegetarische geschiedenis van Nederland [Animals to order. A vegetarian history of the Netherlands]. Amsterdam: Boom.
Vermeulen, S. J., Campbell, B. M., & Ingram, J. S. I. (2012). Climate change and food systems. Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 37(1), 195–222.
Weinstein, M. P. (2010). Sustainability science: The emerging paradigm and the ecology of cities. Sustainability: Science, Practice, & Policy, 6(1), 1.
Wellesley, L., Froggatt, A., & Happer, C. (2015). Changing climate, changing diets: Pathways to lower meat consumption. London: Chatam House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs.
Wiek, A., Ness, B., Schweizer-Ries, P., Brand, F. S., & Farioli, F. (2012). From complex systems analysis to transformational change: A comparative appraisal of sustainability science projects. Sustainability Science, 7, 5–24.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this entry
Cite this entry
De Witt, A. (2018). Transformative Solutions for Sustainable Well-Being. In: Marques, J. (eds) Handbook of Engaged Sustainability. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71312-0_12
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71312-0_12
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71311-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71312-0
eBook Packages: Business and ManagementReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences